Agent who shot into Mexico, killed teen wants case dismissed

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — The attorney for a U.S. Border Patrol agent who fired shots across the border and killed a Mexican teenager says a lawsuit against his client lacks merit because the boy was in Mexico at the time and wasn't protected by the Constitution.

Sean Chapman argued his case Tuesday in federal court in Tucson, Arizona, during a hearing on his motion to dismiss the civil rights lawsuit against Agent Lonnie Swartz.

The ACLU sued on behalf of the mother of 16-year-old Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez.

Elena Rodriguez was in Nogales, Sonora, near the border fence when Swartz shot him from Nogales, Arizona, in 2012.

The Border Patrol has said Elena Rodriguez was among a group of people throwing rocks at agents, but the teen's family says he was simply walking home.